THURSDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 103, @Morehead State 50
@Tennessee Tech 75, SIUE 60
Tennessee State 68, @Southeast Missouri 53
Eastern Illinois 71, @Murray State 64 (OT)
BELMONT 103, MOREHEAD STATE 50
MOREHEAD, Ky. - In a road affair that was never in doubt, the Belmont University women's basketball team set the program's single-game assist record with 35 and reached the century mark for the first time since Feb. 2, 2019, late Thursday afternoon in a 103-50 blowout at Morehead State. Winning their sixth straight, the Bruins improved to 6-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 10-5 on the season.
For the first time since Dec. 21, 2017, six different Belmont players reached double figures led by sophomore guard Tuti Jones' 19 points on a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the floor. Fellow sophomore guard Destinee Wells accounted for 10 of the Bruins' 35 assists, setting a career high, while freshman forward Tessa Miller (16) and sophomore guard Blair Schoenwald (14) both reached career marks in scoring.
Freshman guard Kilyn McGuff pulled down a career and game-high nine rebounds and junior forward Cam Browning notched a season-best 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting. Sophomore forward Madison Bartley (15) and senior forward Conley Chinn (10) also reached double-figure scoring, while Jones finished with a season-high tying seven rebounds and six assists. Bartley went 6-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-3 at the free-throw line and Chinn drained both of her three-point attempts, going 4-for-6 overall.
Shooting over 60 percent from the field for the first time since Feb. 21, 2019, Belmont connected on 60.3 percent of its field goal attempts (41-of-68) and went 12-for-26 (46.2 percent) from beyond the arc.
Committing a season-low nine turnovers, the Bruins forced 22 Eagle miscues and scored 32 points off Morehead State's turnovers. Belmont scored 54 points in the paint and held a plus-19 margin on the glass. With 14 offensive boards, the Bruins got 22 second-chance points and nearly matched the Eagles' score off the bench alone with 49 points by Belmont's reserves.
Scoring at least 20 points in all four quarters, the Bruins built a 17-point lead by the end of the opening act and racked up 54 points in the second half.
A pair of Jones free throws gave Belmont a 7-2 lead after the first 105 seconds of play before Morehead State got within two at 7-5. That would be as close as the Eagles would get for the remainder of the day as the Bruins went on a 25-5 run over the next nine-and-a-half minutes of play capped by a Schoenwald three.
A Browning layup with 2:36 to go in the first half completed a 13-0 Belmont run and put the Bruins up 45-12. Belmont took a 49-20 lead into the locker room after shooting 60.6 percent (20-of-33) in the first 20 minutes and going 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from downtown.
Jones couldn't be stopped in the third quarter, going 5-for-5 from distance as the Bruins outscored the hosts 31-14.
Morehead State outscored Belmont 10-9 across the first four minutes of the fourth quarter but the Bruins ended the game on a 14-6 run with baskets from Miller, Browning, Schoenwald and McGuff.
Belmont shot 60 percent (21-of-35) in the second half and assisted on all 21 of its made field goals.
The Bruins held the Eagles to 34 percent shooting (17-of-50) for the game, including 32 percent (8-of-25) in the first half.
Wells' 10 assists are the most by a Belmont player in a game since Jenny Roy's 10 at Tennessee State on Feb. 13, 2019.
Forward Jada Claude scored a game-high 22 points and collected a team-best seven boards for Morehead State and the Eagles got 13 points from guard Freddy Adams.
TENNESSEE TECH 75, SIUE 60
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE's Gabby Nikitinaite led all scorers with 20 points, but the Cougars fell to Tennessee Tech on the road 75-60.
The game was broadcast nationally on ESPNU as part of We Back Pat, which honors Hall of Fame Coach Pat Summitt and brings awareness to the fight against Alzheimer's.
Nikitinaite hit four three-pointers in her first starting assignment since Jan. 1. She added four assists and four steals while shooting 7 of 18 from the field.
Mikayla Kinnard, also in the starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 1, was the only other player in double figures for the Cougars with 12 points.
The Cougars, 6-10 overall and 2-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, played well in the opening quarter, taking a 16-15 lead.
Tennessee Tech, 9-7 overall and 4-2 in the OVC, rebounded with a strong second period by shooting 7 of 13 from the field in the quarter and grabbing a 39-32 lead by halftime.
SIUE fell behind by as much as 15 in the third period before making a run to pull within 10 with one period left.
The Cougars also were without reigning OVC Freshman of the Week Sofie Lowis, who has been battling through an injury. Lowis had started the four games and had hit 10 three-pointers during that stretch.
The Golden Eagles, powered by 15 points from Jada Guinn, 13 from Kesha Brady and 12 from Mackenzie Coleman, pushed the lead to as many as 22 in the fourth period on a key scoring run. Tennessee Tech shot 45.6 percent for the game (26-57) and connected on 18 of 21 from the free throw line.
SIUE held strong on one of its bellwether statistics, equaling Tennessee Tech with 37 rebounds. The Cougars grabbed 16 offensive boards.
SIUE committed 19 turnovers, and Tennessee Tech scored 21 points off those miscues.
TENNESSEE STATE 68, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 53
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Tennessee State women's basketball team got back in the win column on Thursday with an easy 68-53 victory over SEMO to sweep the season series with the Redhawks.
With the win, TSU now has 10 wins on the season for the first time since the 2016-17 season, the final season under then head coach Larry Inman. The Lady Tigers have won five of their first six OVC games for the first time since the 2014-15 team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. That team would drop its next four games before a 10-game winning streak (seven in OVC play and three in the OVC Tournament).
The regular-season sweep of the Redhawks has not happened since the 1996-97 season, when TSU won on the road 82-54 on Jan. 6, 1997 and then 84-70 at home on Feb.1, 1997. TSU has defeated SEMO twice in a season since then, but it was during the 2008-09 season when TSU played SEMO once in the regular season, a 70-54 win and then in the OVC Tournament, a 77-66 win.
Lacy Robins finished with a career-best 14 points along with five steals for the Lady Tigers off the bench in 21 minutes. Tatyana Davis was also spectacular as a reserve with 11 points in 21 minutes. The duo combined for 25 of TSU's 37 bench points.
Gia Adams scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter and was one of 10 players to score in the contest. Dominique Claytor and Kianni Westbrook each added six points and six rebounds, respectively. Elise Harden returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games and had four points and five rebounds in 12 minutes.
Robins shot 66 percent from the field in the contest and drilled a pair from the outside. Her defensive play stood out the most as scored half of her points off her own steals.
As a team, TSU shot over 50 percent from the field (31-59) with 70 percent of all points coming from inside the paint. TSU's defense collected 26 steals and capitalized with 30 points off turnovers.
TSU led 19-8 after the first and the #PressPlay mentality went into full gear in the second quarter as the Lady Tigers allowed just three points and led 35-11 at the turn.
In the third quarter, TSU took its largest lead of the night, 52-18, with 3:45 left to play.
SEMO played catch-up in the fourth quarter, but the difference was way too much to overcome.
Halle Smith led SEMO with 14 points and Kennedi Watkins added 13.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 71, MURRAY STATE 64
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State women’s basketball team scored four points in 15 seconds to send Thursday’s game against Eastern Illinois to overtime, but ultimately fell to the Panthers, 71-64, at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
Eastern Illinois had four players reach double digits in points with Julia Bengtson leading the way with 16. Lariah Washing had 15 points while Abby Wahl had 14 and Kira Arthofer added 13. Arthofer also had a team-best 11 boards in the win.
Murray State took its first lead in the third quarter and went on to lead by as many as seven in the fourth quarter.
The last four minutes of regulation were as hectic as they get, with five lead changes and two ties. Hannah McKay and Katelyn Young each scored in the final 15 seconds to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Murray State shot a season-low 29.9-percent from the floor in the game, marking the first time this season it has shot below 35.0-percent
Katelyn Young notched the fifth double-double of the season Thursday with a game-high 25 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Alexis Burp was one board shy of her own double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Murray State continued to excel at the free throw line in the game, going 20-for-23. Young was a big part of the performances, as she went 12-for-12 at the line for her second double-digit perfect three performance of the season.